St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1887-02-17

I exhausted. I turned my head and
looked back again through the cars,
and saw the flames licking up the dead
and the living, and realized that the
car, with its living and dying freight,
was doomed TO destruction.
When | got on the car at White Riv-
er junction there were four young peo-
ple-two ladies and two gentlemen
together. They were laughing and
singing, and appeared very jolly, and
| looked at them several times while
on our journey. AS l looked back the
second time while lying on my back,
/ saw two of them, young lady and
gentleman, who were apparently pin
ned down and could not extricate
themselves. | saw the flames creeping
nearer and heard them bid each other
an affectiOnate good-by, and almost
instantly they were enveIOped by the
cruel fire fiend, and saw no more OF
them. They sat in about the middle
of the car. l saw 20 people burned up
as lay there, and as l felt the heat of
the flames gave up all hope of getting
out, though | struggled and kept yell
ing continually for help all the time.
The flames came creeping along, and
took my fur collar q had on a fur cOat)
and crammed it into my mouth and
covered my face waiting for death to
claim me. Then, with an Unborn hope,
L thought l might be saved. l uncov-
cred my face and continued screeching
again.
At that moment l noticed mans
feet running by. | yelled with the
desperation of a lunatic, and succeeded
in arresting his attention. He dropped
down on his knees on the ice and look
ed under at me. l begged him for
Gods sake to save me-tO get me out.
| told him who l was. He took hold
of me and pulled with all his strength,
but couldn't move me an inch. | told
him to get the seat off me and pull the
dead body away, which he partially
succeeded in doing. He spoke to me,
and l knew it was Engineer Pierce. |
heard him say to his fireman: "1ake
hold, perhaps we can save Tewks-
bury" They are two powerful men,
and they both braced themselves by
putting their feet against the car and
pulled with all their strength, but they
could not move me and said they must
leave me. / said: "Don't, don't. Try,
for Gods sake, to save me. Try again"
They said it was no use-they must
leave me. l begged of them to try
once more-to pull my leg Off-but not
to let me burn. They pulled, and oh,
what joyous feeling did | feel my
feet gradually slipping from my shoes.
| cried out to them that [ was coming
to pull! pull! pull and then | was
released. ] felt them break my leg.
In doing so, they had to back out over
the debris, hauling me by the collar af
ter them.
They dropped me on the ice by the
side of the burning car, and within two
feet of it. | said "Draw me back
farther-I shall burn here" They did
so, pulling me back 25 feet or so, right
under the burning bridge, where the
timbers were falling down around me.
| begged them to take me to the farm
house, but they said they must take
Sturtevant there first, as he was suffer
ing good deal. | lay there Is min
utes although it seemed an age to me,
suffering the most extreme torture. |
was freezing to death. L saw them
take Mr.. Sturtevrnt up the steep de-
civity toward the farmhouse of Oscar
Paine. In doing so they fell down sew
eral times, as it was quite steep, and
they must have been nearly exhausted.
Soon / saw a sleigh being pushed by
men, who proved to be Pierce and his
| fireman. | called out to them to come,
as the bridge was falling down on me
and | was freezing. They pushed the
sleigh near me, and in few moments
they put me in the sleigh, Pierce say
ing he was nearly dead and must get
his breath. They then, with the as
sistance of man who had been res
| 81. Dill la1
up to the house and succeeded, after
much effort, in getting me into the sit
| ting room where they left me. | lay
there four hours, suffering horribly,
thinking | should freeze to death. For
the next half hour the wounded were
being brought into the house in all
conditions imaginable. Later, men
came into the house and did all they
could to help me. Several times |
thought was going to die, losing con-
seriousness for few moments, when
they would arouse me and give me
stimulants, and speak words of en-
cOuragement. | cannot say too much
in their praise, nor how thankful am
to them for their kindness. Four hours
from the time | arrived at the house
the physicians set my limbs tempOrari
ly, and | was removed to Pease's no.
tel, Hartford.
While | was lying OH my back wait
ing to be rescued, the screams and
groans from the living and dying were
something awful and heartrendering in
the extreme. Two ladies rushed by
me in their night clothes, screaming
and pulling their hair in frightful
manner. Words are inadequate to de-
scribe the horrible sensation and the
misery endured, which will cling to me
while life lasts. feel and know my
life was saved twice by the heroic eff
forts of Engineer Pierce and Fireman
Thresher-the first time from the
flames by almost superhuman efforts
the second from freezing on the ice,
and cannot half express to them the
gratitude of my family and myself
toward them, nor can the friends of all
the injured, for their brave and tender
ministrations during that horrible
night.